by Ann Mcintosh
The exhilaration of their race across the water still thrummed through his veins, and it seemed to have aroused her, too, and she kissed him as though for the first time, leaving no doubt as to her intent.
They’d agreed it was all just for fun—for the physical enjoyment—but when he had her in his arms, it felt bigger. As though there was something growing between them, tying him to her in some fundamental way.
But he didn’t hesitate when she walked into his personal space. His arms went around her, pulling her flush against his chest, and he parted his legs so that she stood between them, showing her without words that she wasn’t the only one revved up.
Then he kissed her, putting all his need and conflicting emotions into the embrace. She felt so right in his arms, and when she swiveled her hips, he groaned into her mouth.
Her hands roamed his back and then his chest. When she pushed them up under his shirt and slid the pads of her fingers across his straining muscles, desire overtook him.
Placing his hands on her bottom, he lifted her and stepped forward. Instinctively her legs came up to wrap around his waist, and he felt her shudder as her core came into contact with his erection.
Putting her down on the edge of the captain’s seat, he broke their kiss to trail his lips down to her throat. Regina arched, giving him full access to her neck. When his teeth scraped along the skin and he followed it with a hot swipe of his tongue, he heard her gasp and felt her tremble.
There.
There was the responsiveness that made him lose his mind and want to make her come over and over again. She was the stuff of every erotic fantasy he’d ever had, and he was willing to lose himself in her arms again, as long as he didn’t lose himself in the process.
There was no future between them, he knew, just the present, and he wanted to gorge himself on her while he had the chance.
She tightened her legs around his waist and arched her back even more, offering her breasts to his lips.
He didn’t hesitate.
Pushing her blouse up, he slipped her bikini top aside to suck her already straining nipple between his lips. She moaned, her hips swiveling, and Mateo growled. A sound broke through the fog in his head, and he drew back.
She protested, but he was already smoothing her shirt down, as disappointed as she seemed to be at the interruption.
“Company is coming,” he said.
When she became aware of the fast-approaching engine, he saw a wave of color flood her face, but she laughed.
“They’re a little late,” she said as she took the hand he held out to help her get down off the chair, and then reached under her blouse to adjust her swimsuit. “They missed the show.”
Seeing her amusement just made him want her even more, so he didn’t answer, just scooped her back into his arms and kissed her until her breath was once more rushing from her lungs.
It was only when the passing boaters cheered that he let her go, and said, “That’s it. We’re heading home.”
She laughed again, and he had to force himself to turn back to the console and get the engines going.
The ride back seemed to take an inordinate amount of time, and by the time they docked, anticipation was like lava in his veins.
All he could hope was that he wouldn’t become too addicted to Regina Montgomery, because the craving he had for her was already intense.
CHAPTER TEN
THE WEEKEND SEEMED to fly by, a whirl of sightseeing, boat trips and lovemaking.
Especially lovemaking.
Regina had realized at one point—probably as they sat in a restaurant on Duval Street in Key West, discussing everything and nothing—that she was a little afraid. Not of Mateo—not in the slightest—but of the sensation of being ever so slightly out of control, no matter how hard she tried to reassure herself she could handle whatever came.
But she pushed it all aside, and now, as they drove back into Miami, she was sorry their time together was already coming to an end.
Mateo apparently felt the same way.
“Would you like to stay at my place tonight? I can drop you home before I go to work in the morning.”
Oh, she was tempted, but her natural caution reasserted itself, after apparently having taken the weekend off. If it had been firmly in place, surely Regina wouldn’t have lost her head quite as completely as she had under Mateo’s spell.
“I really have to take care of all the things I usually do on weekends,” she said, trying to sound matter-of-fact but hearing the regret in her own voice. “I like to start the week with all my chores done, and of course this week that hasn’t happened.”
She was getting used to his way of not pressuring her, so it came as no surprise when he replied, “I understand. Maybe later in the week, before you start back up on shift?”
“Maybe.” It was the most she was willing to agree to. Right now, she needed a little distance from him so she could think through everything that had happened over the weekend.
It turned out to be a good decision, as she was called in the following morning to cover for the internist on duty, who’d had a personal emergency and had to go out of town.
Regina was glad to be back at work, since she’d tossed and turned all the night before, obsessively going over everything that had happened over the weekend.
No man had ever made her feel the way Mateo had, and not just physically. There was something about the way he looked at her and listened so intently that drilled down into her soul. It was the demeanor of a man completely involved in the moment, not waiting to speak, or thinking about what would happen next.
No, he was totally there, in a way she wasn’t used to but knew she could, all too easily, grow accustomed to.
Thank goodness she wasn’t contemplating any more long-term relationships in the future, because any man she was involved in would have to put up with being compared with Mateo.
Both in and out of bed.
And she couldn’t stop thinking about the “in bed” part, and that was an anomaly for her, since she’d never allowed sex to mess with her head. It was fun, and something she was completely comfortable with, but not an activity she built any part of her life around. Too many men seemed ready to use their sexual prowess as a way to control their partners, and Regina was having none of it.
But if she were inclined to be controlled that way, Mateo would definitely be in the running for puppet master. That man knew his way around a woman’s body.
Realizing she was woolgathering again, Regina pulled herself together and started her rounds. Looking over the charts of newly admitted patients, she had a momentary jolt of annoyance when she realized she’d be dealing with Dr. Welk. The pompous cardiologist was truly aggravating.
Then she took a closer look at the young woman’s chart and found herself wondering exactly what was going on.
According to Kaitlyn Mignon’s medical history, she’d suffered from a variety of nonspecific symptoms for most of her life, but she hadn’t been definitively diagnosed with any one illness that could take all of them into consideration.
Stomach complaints. Intermittent fevers. Fatigue and frequent headaches.
What had caused her to be admitted to the hospital was her doctor’s suspicion that she’d suffered a series of transient ischemic attacks, which often were a precursor to a stroke. Although the symptoms—in her case an inability to see—had resolved within a few minutes, the doctor had wanted her to undergo further testing, including being on a heart monitor.
Her test results had shown signs of a possible heart valve abnormality, which was why Dr. Welk was on the case. But what caught Regina’s eye was another result, which indicated proteinuria.
There was something on the edge of Regina’s brain, nagging at her, but until she could get to a computer station and do some research, the only other thing she could do was c
all for a nephrology consult.
Somewhere in the confluence of all those symptoms lay an answer, and she was determined to find it.
Having called up Nephrology and being told Dr. Linton would be down in a short time, Regina went on about her rounds, somewhat thankful she wouldn’t have to see Mateo just yet.
She couldn’t help thinking it would be good to have a little more time before she encountered him, just to make sure she was prepared.
A couple of hours later, Regina was passing the nurses’ station on her way to another patient’s room, when the nursing supervisor, Lisa Patterson, stopped her.
“Dr. Montgomery, can I have a minute?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
The supervisor looked around at the other doctors and nurses in the vicinity, and then said in a low voice, “Can we go somewhere quieter?”
That was never a good sign, but Regina nodded and followed the other woman to the enclosed office space behind the main station.
Lisa closed the door and then said, “There’s a situation that came to my attention, and I want you to know about it.”
“What is it?”
“Dr. Linton came down from Nephrology, as you asked, but I understand Dr. Welk told him he wasn’t needed.”
“Oh?”
Despite the mildness of her response and her poker face, she was sure Lisa knew that inside she was livid.
That blasted Welk.
“I wasn’t there, but the nurse who was present reported it to me, and I thought you should know.”
“Yes, thank you. I appreciate the heads-up.”
They exited the room together, Regina’s brain racing to figure out how best to handle the situation.
Morgan Welk, she’d come to learn, acted like the lord of the manor because of his long tenure at the hospital, and especially loved to boss around the younger, less confident doctors. Unfortunately, Mark Linton was one of the newest members of the nephrology team, and clearly didn’t know how to stand up to a bully like Welk.
Well, Regina was about to show him how.
Back at the nurses’ desk, she looked up the extension for Nephrology and put in a call.
“Dr. Linton, please. This is Dr. Montgomery.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Montgomery, but Dr. Linton is in with a patient just now. Can anyone else help you?”
Regina only just stopped herself from grimacing. She’d really wanted to turn the situation into a teaching moment for the young doctor, but she couldn’t leave her patient up in the air waiting for him.
“Is there another doctor available?”
“Dr. Herrera is here. Shall I page him for you?”
Her heart fluttered.
“Yes, thank you,” she replied, keeping her voice cool, masking her less than professional response. She’d been sure he would be working in the clinic, which was held twice a week for the patients with chronic kidney disease, so she hadn’t expected to have to speak with him.
Knowing she was going to have to interact with him here, at the hospital, caused a rush of excitement through her system, and brought to mind all kinds of naughty memories.
And that annoyed her almost as much as Welk’s actions.
So her voice was curt when he came on the line and she replied to his greeting.
“Mateo, I have a situation here, and I need someone from your department to attend, stat.”
There was a pause, and then he replied, “I can be down in about ten minutes. Will that do?”
“Yes, thank you.”
She hung up before he could say anything more, and after she’d given the nurse on duty some instructions regarding the last patient she’d seen, she sat at one of the monitors and began her research.
* * *
Mateo wasn’t sure what he was in for when he got down to the fourth floor.
Regina’s voice had been curt and cold, and he knew something had gone wrong; he just wasn’t sure where, or what.
Hopefully, that tone was directed at the problem, rather than him personally.
He should have known that whatever was bothering her would be professionally related. Regina would never allow her personal life to interfere with work.
“Fabry disease?” Mateo said it slowly, turning it over in his head. He looked back at the tablet she’d given him, scrolling up to the section with the patient’s history. “Wouldn’t it have been diagnosed long before this? According to her chart, she’s been exhibiting symptoms for years.”
Regina swung her chair around to point at the screen.
“It says that up until the early 2000s many doctors considered females with the genetic anomaly to be strictly carriers. I’m willing to guess not many doctors, even today, are well versed on it, or would even think of it in regard to a female patient.”
“That’s probably true.” Kaitlyn had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, migraines and a host of other illnesses, but no one had put it together.
Until now.
“I’m going to order the genetic test, if she’s amenable, but I need your input for treatment going forward. I also have an issue with Morgan Welk that you should be aware of.”
“Oh?” Just hearing that man’s name got his back up, and when Regina explained what had happened earlier, he was furious.
“I’ll speak to Linton,” he said. “And to Welk. If it had come out that you’d called for a consult, and no one had examined the patient, our department would be in a lot of trouble.”
“Leave Welk to me,” she said with a thin smile. “I’ll deal with him myself.”
If Mateo hadn’t been so angry, he’d feel bad for the cardiologist, but as it was, all he said was, “Go get him, tiger.”
Her lioness eyes flashed with grim amusement. “I shall.”
Mateo cast a quick glance behind him, and finding the area clear, said quietly, “Come by later?”
Regina shook her head. “No, sorry. I’m on call for the next couple of days, and I never socialize when on duty.”
“So you’ll be working these shifts, as well as your seven?”
She shrugged. “They haven’t worked it all out yet, but they think Dr. Reynolds will be back by Thursday, and if he is, he’ll work my weekend shifts and we’ll get back on track that way.”
“If that’s the case, let’s do something on the weekend.”
He didn’t want to sound as though he was needy, but he really wanted to see her away from the hospital, and was very aware of her time in Miami marching far too quickly on.
“Sure.” She didn’t sound terribly enthusiastic, but the look she gave him out of the corner of her eye sent a trickle of heat along his spine. “I’ll let you know what’s happening.”
Then they went to see the patient, who appeared equal parts tired, afraid and angry.
“Okay, another doctor?” She eyed Mateo with patent distrust. “I hope at least this one has some manners. That old guy is an asshole.”
Mateo bit back a snort of agreement and introduced himself, explaining that her urine analysis indicated there may be some disruption in her kidney function.
“I’d like to do some further tests, if that’s okay with you.”
Kaitlyn Mignon flushed, and cursed long and hard. Both Regina and Mateo instinctively moved closer to the head of the bed, and Mateo saw Regina reach for the nearby box of tissues.
“My kidneys, now, too? What next? I can’t stand it anymore.”
“I know,” Regina said in that cool, controlled tone that seemed to cut right through to the heart of the matter, but this time all it gained her was a glare and another string of curses.
“You have no idea. Every time I turn around, it’s something new. Something different, and worse. I can’t lead a normal life like everyone else, and there’s no answers as to why this is happening.”
Kaitlyn stared at Regina, her mouth agape, and Mateo realized why Regina had grabbed a handful of tissues, when the first tear trickled down the younger woman’s cheek.
“You...you think you know what’s...wrong with me?” Her hushed tone was such a marked contrast to her previous outbursts it showed how stunned she was by the thought. “Is there a cure?”
“There is no cure, but there are therapies that may help you, if you qualify for them. Otherwise, it’s a matter of treating the symptoms and managing the disease in a variety of ways.”
Kaitlyn was still staring at Regina, and then she burst into sobs.
It took a while for Kaitlyn to regain her composure, and when she did, her breath was still hitching in her throat as she said, “Just to have some kind of answer to why I’ve had these symptoms and problems all my life would be a relief.”
“It’s not a certainty,” Mateo said, wanting to manage her expectations. “We’d have to do molecular genetic testing for the mutated GLA gene to be absolutely sure, but your history does seem to point that way.”
They were discussing it further with her when Dr. Welk walked into the room. He froze, as though unable to believe his eyes.
Before he could say anything, though, Regina went from cool comforter of the sick to ice-cold avenger.
“Dr. Welk.” The frost dripping from her voice seemed to push the temperature in the room down by ten degrees. “May I have a word with you, outside?”
It wasn’t really a question, and even Welk seemed compelled to follow her as she strode out the door.
Kaitlyn Mignon watched them go, and although her eyes were red and swollen, and her nose was pink, Mateo saw the amusement in her expression.
“Wouldn’t want to be that guy,” she muttered. “Dr. Montgomery looks pissed.”
“Yep,” he agreed. “I wouldn’t want to be him, either.”
But, oh, how he wanted to be the man who once more melted that ice and had her crying out in ecstasy.
